Participants
Word Express is now in the translation phase. Click on an author's name to find samples of their work. New translations and writings are being uploaded all the time ... so watch this space for new words from South Eastern Europe
More than fifty young writers are taking part in the Word Express project.
Of these aspiring novelists, poets and essayists from the Balkans, the
UK and Israel, twenty took the ambitious train journey to Istanbul.
They have been selected not only for the quality of their writing but also for their ability to bring other skills to the project: some of them are also translators, editors of literary magazines, critics or organisers of international literary events, others have made a name in visual arts, film or music, apart from being known as writers.
Three separate groups set out simultaneously from Ljubljana, Bucharest and Sarajevo. At every stop, they were welcomed by local young writers, took part in readings and workshops and explored the city. They were joined by their hosts and boarded the train for the next stop, finally converging in Thessaloníki from where the three groups took the final train journey to Istanbul.
The sample writing featured on this site is for personal reading only. No element of these texts may be reproduced, resold or retransmitted in any way without the permission of the author.
News
Word Express writer Ognjen Spahić from Montenegro will be visiting London for events with his UK publisher, Istros Books, from the 15th - 18th of May. See the Istros Books website for more details.
This year's Prague Book Fair - Svet Knihy - is focusing on literature the Black Sea region. Word Express writers Ivan Hristov (Bulgaria), Zaza Koshkadze (Georgia) and Pelin Özer (Turkey) will talk about their Balkan literary journey and read their work at the gala evening. Go to the Literature Across Frontiers website for more details.
Word Express interviews Georgian poet Zaza Koshkadze, and talks to Owen Martell and Milan Dobricic about translating and publishing Owen's novel into Serbian after meeting on the Word Express journey. All on the Travel Blog.